Tactical NAV, a commercially available app that can be purchased on the App Store and Google Play, was used by U.S. Army Soldiers during a MEDEVAC mission near Tikrit that saved a wounded warfighter’s life.
“Tactical NAV simply works. Over 100,000 military warfighters are using the app today all over the world, and it’s extremely accurate and effective. I’m humbled and grateful that my fellow warfighters are trusting the app and that it saved one of my fellow warfighters who was wounded in Iraq,” said Jonathan J. Springer, the application’s creator.
From information received via secure email, Springer said a Soldier told him they received a 9-line MEDEVAC request, but the military network they were using was not working, and they couldn’t pull up the mapping data to get the much-needed GPS coordinates to pick up the wounded Soldier.
So, having to act quickly, the combat medic pulled out Tactical NAV and immediately located the military grid reference system (MGRS) coordinates to pick up the wounded Soldier.
“I’ve tried working with the Department of Defense to integrate Tactical NAV with some of their systems to better help our warfighters, but they simply refuse to talk with me and work with me,” Springer said. “But regardless of the lack of the DoD’s help, I’m just grateful that Tactical NAV worked and helped save this individuals life. Because bottom line, that’s what it’s all about.”
BOILERPLATE: Created to save warfighters’ lives, Tactical NAV was the first MGRS-focused app on the Apple App Store and was built during a combat deployment to Afghanistan in 2010 with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). It’s been extensively utilized and tested during actual combat operations to ensure safety and accuracy and has been used to deliver artillery and mortar rounds — and also CAS aircraft munitions — onto enemy targets in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.
